» being apped at ataraxion | original character

[halves]

The other place was a little more plausible, at least.

[The dream world. Strange things happened when you were dreaming and that made it easier to handle, even if just so he didn't have to accept that he was finally trapped in his own mind.

Pause. He is probably never going to get over this.]

Really. Space?

Comments

[halves]

[He has had that speech before -- don't apologize -- usually accompanied by sheepish smiles or eye rolls. Her manner is just... blank. It reminds him of a patient he once called his roommate.

The cigarette is between his lips by the time she's done, thumb clicking the lighter on. Lou is ready to open his mouth and ask about it; instead he's interrupted by a piece that doesn't fit.]

I don't work with Giles.

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen doesn't so much as blink. She expects this part by now, the confusion. Tommy looks like Bob, two Sherlocks neither alike. The possibility of another set of twins, identical within themselves and two one another, both named Lewis and Giles — according to some of the science it's theoretically possible. She doesn't dwell on it too long. ]

The Lewis I know does.

[halves]

[The idea that he might be sharing his identity with someone else didn't work out too well last time, Aberdeen.

It ended with his hands around his brother's neck, in fact. Ten long years ago.]

Now I'm confused.

[wiretap]

[ Well there's a whole contingency worth of people ready and waiting to see whether or not history is willing to repeat itself somehow.

At least it's not Obi-Wan Kenobi. ]

Anomalies in space-time. Or at least that's what the astrophysicists say. It's lead to a series of strange overlaps in singularities.

I know a Lewis Puckett. He isn't you.

[halves]

[OH, BURN.]

I... see. [He hates saying that, for the record. But he's heard about those theories and brushed them aside, never even knowing he's actually witnessed them happening.

He arches his brows after another pause, realizing there's still an unlit cigarette between his fingers.] Shouldn't I know another you, then?

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen looks at the cigarette and then at his lighter and then at Lewis again, her hand lifting to urge the lighter closer and remind him it's there in the first place. ]

Not all universes are symmetrical.

[ According to theory, anyway. After a moment's consideration: ]

Where is your brother?

[halves]

[He drops his shoulders and tips his chin after glancing at her hand, all in paced movements.

Click.]

No idea. [And the ensuing thought is amusing to no one but him.] Probably at work.

[wiretap]

[ It seems for a moment as if Aberdeen intends to pluck that cigarette from Lewis' lips and take a long exhale from it, but in the end, her hand simply drops away again. ]

Is he polite and are you preoccupied with sex?

[halves]

[It's a good thing he's exhaled the smoke. Lewis laughs half in disbelief and half in amusement, staring at her for a moment before the answer comes. He never thought it'd be so easy to sum them up.]

He is polite. [There's a level of fondness beneath those words. Sometimes he allows himself to get past the guilt for that.] But I damn well hope I don't have any reasons to be worried about sex.

[wiretap]

[ There's some of the one half of Winston-Salem that Aberdeen is familiar with. Granted, she had never really known either of them well, personally, but it was her responsibility to know all of the members of each of the Orders as well as be able to recognize their voices at first breath. Even the Puckett brothers. ]

You have a lot of it where I'm from. [ Aberdeen blinks slowly. ] You're charming.

Apparently. [ What would she know about charm? ]

[halves]

Thank you. I think. [Maybe others would be taken aback by these statements, but not him. If anything, the way Aberdeen delivers them so dispassionately just adds to the humor.

And he remembers himself again.] You smoke?

[wiretap]

[ Some people find her abrasive, but it's not as though Aberdeen tries to be. That Lewis doesn't seem bothered works in his favor as far as she's concerned. Eventually: ] I do.

[halves]

[The pack is back in his hand by the time he finishes taking another drag, three cigarettes remaining.]

I'm guessing you don't get to do this anymore.

[wiretap]

[ She takes a cigarette from those offered; her fingers tap absently along the length of it as she raises it to her lips and then bows forward and upwards into his personal space in expectation of having it lit for her. ]

Sometimes. There are rules. [ Sometimes, she ignores them. ]

[halves]

[He does as he's told, slipping the lighter back in his pocket after the deed is done.] Tell me.